1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chess game playable by two, three or four persons and, more particularly, to such a game where it can be played conventionally or as teams, and with modified attack rules.
2. Setting of the Invention
Chess games for more than two players are well known; examples are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,843,130; 4,147,360; 4,190,254; 4,696,478 and 4,708,349. All of these games provide a checkerboard pattern playing surface, some with additional staging and/or playing areas. Further, these games include many variations to the conventional chess roles to add something different to the game. Many of these games have substantially altered the chess rules which can be difficult to learn and remember during the game, thus distracting from the pleasure of playing. It is desirous to maintain as much of the conventional chess strategy and rules as possible for play with more than two players.
British Patent No. 1,030,519 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,360 permit pawns to alter their direction of travel and thus their direction of attack. In the above patents, multiple players will tend to use these altered rights of the pawns as a "free-for-all" where the pawns can attack in any oblique direction. This alteration reduces the conventional opening movements of the chess game and can thus reduce the enjoyment of the strategy of chess.
There is a need for a multiple (such as from two to four) player chess game which preserves as much of the chess strategy as possible yet provides meaningful variations to the conventional rules for added enjoyment.